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Why did Senator McCain torpedo legislation that would have allowed government officials to be prosecuted for impeding investigations into POW/MIA affairs.
Why do most POW/MIA activists consider Sen. McCain a key obstacle to government investigations of POW/MIAs?
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Exclusive: Yahoo CIO Kirwan Bids Adieu
As part of BoomTown's duty as internal jobs board for Yahoo, here's another departure: CIO Michael Kirwan (pictured here).
A terse email went out yesterday about Kirwan's leaving.
According to his Yahoo bio, he had "global responsibility for Yahoo!'s Corporate Systems group, which includes the IT Infrastructure, Corporate Applications, CRM and Premium Services Infrastructure teams. These teams ensure Yahoo!'s internal systems and billing/anti-fraud services are available 24/7."
In other words, the guy who keeps the lights on at the Silicon Valley icon!
Kirwan reported to David Dibble, EVP of Service Engineering & Operations at Yahoo.
Kirwan previously worked at VeriSign, as well as at Bank of America, Bank of California and Union Bank of California.


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Daughter's fight on auction follows a pattern
By Matt Viser
WASHINGTON — In 1966, in a letter to a friend in Ireland, Jacqueline Kennedy seemed to see her future. She described her "strange" world, one in which "privacy barely exists, and where I spend all winter in New York holding my breath and wondering which old letter of mine will come up for auction next!"
All these years later, her family is still carefully guarding her legacy — and launching a new attempt to prevent the auction of letters she wrote to an Irish priest.
Caroline Kennedy has gotten involved in trying to establish ownership over the batch of more than 30 deeply personal letters that her mother had written to the Rev. Joseph Leonard over nearly 15 years. Those letters — in which Kennedy revealed some of her most private thoughts on marriage, motherhood, and death — had been set to be auctioned.
Photos: Letters between Jackie Kennedy and Father Leonard
But under questions of ownership, copyright, and morality, the letters were pulled. The same day that attorneys for Caroline Kennedy contacted the Irish auction house planning to sell the letters, the auction was canceled. And the financially strapped college that discovered the letters and was hoping for a windfall — All Hallows College in Dublin — is now planning to close some 172 years after it opened.
"The Kennedys are very, very controlling. And I'm sure they don't like when they don't have control of things," said Laurence Leamer, author of "The Kennedy Women." Caroline, he added, "feels now that she's the bearer of the legacy, and that's why they have to be so careful."
The dispute is only the latest twist in a years-long effort by Caroline Kennedy to protect the writings left behind by her mother.
When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died, she gave her copyright interests and all of her writings to her children. After John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a plane crash in 1999, Caroline Kennedy gained complete control.
"I request, but do not direct, my children to respect my wish for privacy," she wrote in her will.
This is not the first time Caroline Kennedy has gotten involved in such a dispute. In 2003, the author Thomas Maier published a book, "The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings," that contained a chapter based on interviews with Father Richard McSorley, a Jesuit priest who, during games of tennis, counseled Jacqueline Kennedy shortly after her husband, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963.
The chapter – which tells of a grieving widow who talked about suicide and questioned her fitness as a mother — was also based on letters that Kennedy had written to McSorley, which were available in McSorley's papers through Georgetown University.
Then, as now, questions were raised over whether such intimate thoughts and letters – particularly those expressed to a priest – should have been made public. The late Senator Edward M. Kennedy said at the time that he was "deeply disappointed that the privacy of communications such as these between a member of the clergy and his parishioner would not be respected."
Just after the book was published, Maier said, Caroline Kennedy asserted that she owned the copyright to the letters and Georgetown put restrictions on the papers so they could no longer be viewed.
The head of the Jesuit community at Georgetown University apologized to the family. Maier was unapologetic.
"After 50 years, America deserves the full historical record to the best we can provide it," he said. "Any actions that keep it as private property at this stage of the game are perhaps legally defensible but are not historically defensible. Especially when so much of the material is kept in taxpayer-funded archives."
He added: "To not allow for the appropriate disclosure, more than 50 years after, does a disservice to history and to many Americans who are still alive who witnessed these events."
Historians had long asked for the oral history Jacqueline Kennedy did with Arthur Schlesinger but were told it wouldn't be available until 75 years after her death. Then, Caroline Kennedy came out with a book of her own that released those interviews.
The book became a best-seller.
"The family got fed up of everybody making money off of the Kennedys," Leamer said. "They want the control. They want the money. . . . They're very protective, and they feel these repulsive journalists are trying to say anything to make a buck. That's not totally untrue."
In general, while the physical copy of the letter belongs to the recipient, the copyright for the letter belongs to the author. The copyright transfers to a person's heirs when he or she dies — as it did to Caroline Kennedy in this case.
The letters that her mother had written to and received from Father Leonard were rediscovered earlier this year when officials at All Hallows College — where Leonard had served and where he died — scoured their archives in an effort to find valuable materials that could be sold.
Jackie Kennedy first met Leonard in 1950, when she was 21, and over the course of nearly 15 years exchanged letters with him.
"I am so bitter against God," she wrote a few months after the assassination of her husband. "I think God must have taken Jack to show the world how lost we would be without him. But that is a strange way of thinking to me – and God will have a bit of explaining to do to me if I ever see him."
After Leonard died in 1964, a mutual friend – John A. Costello, a former Irish prime minister — contacted Kennedy and let her know that Leonard had numerous letters from her. Kennedy wrote to say how "touched" she was by the careful and confidential way her letters had been treated.
And she wrote about reading one of the letters to her 8-year-old daughter, Caroline, and the effect it had on her. Kennedy asked the college if there was something she could do to assist it, and she later sent autographed books about her late husband.
The Globe earlier this year was able to review summaries of those letters, but the college would not provide actual copies out of concern that the Kennedy family would object.
Philip Sheppard, who represents the auction house that was going to sell the letters, said in a recent court affidavit that Kennedy family attorneys contacted the firm on May 21, asserting that they owned the copyright of the letters, according to the Irish Times. Sheppard declined to comment.
His attorneys also declined to comment, as did Caroline Kennedy and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg.
Meanwhile, an order of the Catholic Church affiliated with All Hallows College, the Vincentians, has said that Leonard's will gives them ownership of the letters.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' papers are held in various collections around the world, including many at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. But most of her personal correspondence – likely including many of the letters she received from Father Leonard – is not available to the public. In some cases, the papers have not been sorted through and indexed, and in others Caroline Kennedy has put restrictions on them.
The Kennedy Library has said it is not involved in trying to obtain the letters written to Father Leonard.
"It's Caroline's decision about what should happen," said Hugh D. Auchincloss, who was Jacqueline Kennedy's stepbrother. "Whatever she would suggest I would agree to."
Auchincloss was with Kennedy when she first met Leonard, on a trip through Ireland in 1950.
"I'm sure that Father Leonard, having known him, if he were alive would have written Caroline and gotten her advice or permission as to what to do," Auchincloss said.
At Caroline Kennedy's suggestion, Auchincloss also donated all of the letters that he had ever received from his stepsister, dating from 1941 until shortly before she died. Those letters — about 180 items altogether — are now preserved at the library but are not available to the public.
Source: The Boston Globe – By Matt Viser
Patricia Annino is a sought after speaker and nationally recognized authority on women and estate planning. She educates and empowers women to value themselves and their contributions in order to ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS in the world – and in so doing PROTECT THEMSELVES, those they love, and the organizations they care about. Annino recently released her new book, "It's More Than Money, Protect Your Legacy" available at Amazon.com. To download Annino's FREE eBook, Estate Planning 101 visit, http://www.patriciaannino.com.


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Osteoporosis affects millions of older adults. It usually strikes after age 60. It's most common in women, but men can get it too.
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All the following information was provided via Writer Marketing Services.
About the author:
K D Grace believes Freud was right. In the end, it really IS all about sex, well sex and love. And nobody's happier about that than she, cuz otherwise, what would she write about?
When she's not writing, K D is veg gardening or walking. She walks her stories, and she's serious about it. She and her husband recently walked the Coast to Coast rout across England. For her, inspiration is directly proportionate to how quickly she wears out a pair of walking boots.
K D has erotica published with Xcite Books, Harper Collins Mischief Books, Mammoth, Cleis Press, Black Lace, Erotic Review, Ravenous Romance, Sweetmeats Press and others.
K D's critically acclaimed erotic romance novels include, The Initiation of Ms Holly, The Pet Shop. Her paranormal erotic novel, Body Temperature and Rising, the first book of her Lakeland Heatwave trilogy, was listed as honorable mention on Violet Blue's Top 12 Sex Books for 2011. Book two, Riding the Ether, is now available
K D Grace also writes hot romance as Grace Marshall.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KDGraceAuthor
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KD_Grace
About the Book:
After a sizzling encounter in DEMON HEELS, a quirky all-night shoe store, with the store's hot owner, FINN MASTERS, JILL HART walks away in the most gorgeous boots ever. Her new boots come with an unexpected bonus, a sexy demon named ELEANOR, who's looking for a good time. All she lacks is a body, and Jill's will do nicely.
Jill quits her dead-end job and, not knowing what's come over her stops by the nearest pub intent on doing tequila shots until she falls off the stool. Instead she does FINN MASTERS in the beer garden, unwittingly participating in her first ever threesome. The boots were the bait, the timing was right and Eleanor has new digs. It's Finn job to prevent Eleanor's misbehaving. His failure means he'll have to ride shotgun and do damage control until Eleanor moves out at the next full moon.
With Eleanor in residence, Jill's bolder, sexier, willing to take risks. But is she a whole new Jill, or is it just demon courage? And how will Finn feel about her when she's just plain Jill again? Will the maddeningly magical ménage make Jill's dreams come true, or will it break her heart?
There was a soft knock on the door and Meinrad entered the room with several hanks of what looked like ordinary rope. He nodded his greeting to Finn, then his gaze came to rest on Jill, and she felt her entire body blush at his inspection. 'Turn around,' he said.
She obeyed.
He made some sound low in his throat that could have passed as either approval or not. Then he placed a large hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him. She noticed he wore the Kinky Boots uniform T-shirt stretched tight across his very broad chest. The shop name was punctuated by the hard pressure of nipples on muscular pecs. The black jeans he wore rode low on his hips. The wave of lust that rushed over her was staggering. How had she not noticed how sexy he was?
Then Finn moved to stand beside him, and she understood. Even though Meinrad was by far the larger man, Finn dominated the room. Finn dominated the space. Finn dominated every second of the last twenty-four hours of her life, as though he had shoved his way in and pushed everything else out. It did things to her, that thought, things that were way beyond lust, things that were a lot more frightening than being possessed by a demon.
He stood gazing down at her from some neutral distance that made her feel very much alone, as though the world and everyone in it had receded, leaving her to await her fate. Eleanor was keeping a low profile. Finn spoke without preamble. 'Unless something's hurting you, while Meinrad's binding you, you're not to speak. You're only to move when he moves you. You're to do exactly as he says. You're to accept what he does to you in total passivity. Is that clear?'
'Is he going to fuck me?' She was embarrassed the minute she said it but it was too late to take it back.
'If I want him to, yes,' Finn said.
If Finn wanted him to. Dear God, what was she doing? Suddenly she felt unsteady on her feet. She didn't know Meinrad. Not like she knew Finn. And yet the thought of the big man hammering her with his enormous cock while she was all trussed up was at least as exciting as it was uncomfortable. The thought that he would do so only at Finn's bidding excited her even more.
'There'll be no safe word,' Finn continued. 'All you have to do is tell Meinrad to stop. Or if at any time he thinks you're not fit to continue, he'll stop, and that'll be that. Are we clear?'
She nodded. 'And what about you?'
'Meinrad's acting on my behalf.' Finn held her in a cool gaze. 'He'll do as I say, and so will you, unless you choose at any point not to play.' For a long moment he studied her, as though he might see something, perhaps some flaw, perhaps some weakness, she didn't know what. He seemed too far away to tell. She held her breath. Waiting.
At last he blinked and stepped back, still holding her gaze. 'I'll ask you again, Jill. Are you sure this is what you want?'
She nodded, afraid to speak for fear her heart would jump out of her throat. Then she remembered to breathe again.
Finn said nothing. He took her hands in his and offered them to Meinrad, who took both her wrists in one huge palm and tied them across one another in a simple looped knot from which she could have easily escaped if she'd wanted. Then he led her to the bed and guided her onto it. There, he secured her hands to the headboard with several feet of slack, enough to allow him to work around her and at the same time allow Finn to observe from every angle. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed Finn had pulled a ladder back chair to the side of the bed and sat emotionlessly looking on. A quick glance was all she got before Meinrad settled her into a kneeling position facing the wall with her hands resting on the headboard.
In the beginning, it felt as though she were being decorated with rope; that's the best way Jill could describe what Meinrad was doing to her. The rope was softer than she expected it to be and not unpleasant against her bare skin. The embarrassment she felt came, flashed hot, then passed as Meinrad looped the rope and efficiently placed knots above her breasts and then below and then tightened and cinched his efforts until the harnessing effect squeezed and pinched and offered up each of her breasts in a tight little nest of rope, like ripe fruit topped by the cherry-hard rise of her nipples. She'd always had sensitive breasts and to have them so handled and bound made her whole chest burn with a need that was replicated in her pussy.
Meinrad worked in complete silence, his hands moving over her body as though she were nothing more than the canvas for what he was creating. His touch was exacting and his rhythm as he worked was hypnotic. Early on she realised that one of his hands was on her at all times. She remembered basic knot training from her childhood days in the Girl Guides. Right over left and under and through. Left over right and under and through. Rope threaded through competent fingers, rope slid over bare skin, coiling, twisting, binding, descending right over left and left over right, pressing a column of knots down the length of her spine before looping around her waist and embracing her belly. Again. And again. Yes, she was his canvas, and what he created took its shape against her flesh, but his art didn't happen without exacting a price from him, and in her peripheral vision, as he reached around her to secure a knot over her navel, she caught a glimpse of the erection set tight in his black jeans, and she felt the hitch of his breathing not quite hidden in the rhythm of right over left, left over right. As he crossed the ropes around her body, she felt the heat of his breath whisper along her back next to the weaving and twisting and soft swishing of the rope along her spine.
With a tug of the rope every pore of her body responded to the tightening just as he nestled a knot against the pucker of her bottom and her gasp sounded like a rush of wind in the stretching silence. Meinrad gave a little pull and her clit hardened in empathy with the pressure between her buttocks. Then without warning, he slipped an arm around her and turned her over as he pulled two strands of rope up between her legs, up tight against her upper thighs like the elastic of knickers, or a tightly cinched climber's harness. That done, with a deft movement of his fingers he secured a knot just over her clit, and this time she cried out in the strange mix of discomfort and arousal. The whole gape of her was pressed between the two strands of rope, knotted at fore and aft like a ship, narrow and thick-hulled.
There was barely time to get used to the strange rub and pressure between her legs, or the knot that felt like the tip of a thick finger attempting to breach her bottom, before Meinrad began to bind her thighs to her lower legs and ankles, making the position in which she knelt mandatory. With each knot, with each looping of the rope, he forced her bent legs further apart until she was wide open, yet at the same time held closed by the ropes between her legs. Bound and kneeling on the bed, she tried to breathe deeply, tried to fight back the panic of her own helplessness, something she had never experienced before. She was dangerously close to hyperventilating, and Eleanor seemed to be completely absent from the whole event.
'Shall I continue?' Meinrad asked.
You can purchase a copy of this novel here:
What do you think of Kinky Boots? Have you read any of the authors other novels?


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Meter The Usage Meter is a great tool that allows HughesNet customers to track their data usage in real time.
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You can even see how your actual data usage compares to your expected usage for the current monthly data cycle, so you know when you're running over the average.
Also, a messaging section provides important alerts and news from HughesNet.
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Even when the weather is bad, it either doesn't go down at all or only for a short time. There were a few glitches at the beginning, but not many. We also learned how to manage our usage to get more mileage out of our allowances. I use my university office when I have to download really large files, but I can do just about everything else from home. It saves me a lot of trips to the office!
-Cindi N, South Carolina


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- Why I Use Silver Efex Pro
- Understanding the SEP Interface
- Processing an Image: From Start to Finish
- Top Ten Tips for SEP2
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley, 2011Canon 5D Mark II 17mm 1/400 @ f/13 ISO 100
Very few plugins have met with as much success as Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP) and for good reason: It's simply the best and most essential black-and-white plugin on the market. Photographing a good image is difficult enough, so when it comes to processing, plugins that help you bring your vision to life effortlessly are indispensable. SEP does a great job of blending superior technology with ease of use. Frankly, I wouldn't have been able to make many of my favorite black-and-white images without this software!
In this chapter I'll explain my approach to using SEP while orienting you to SEP's interface and rich set of creative tools. Of course, you'll do this by creating images and exploring all the creative possibilities SEP has to offer.
Why I Use Silver Efex Pro
Black-and-white photography is experiencing a major resurgence despite film's ill-fated future. Although this may bristle the hairs on the backs of a few of you holding on tightly to your last roll of Tri-X, the reality is that the digital era is here to stay. You can think of SEP as a digital darkroom; its sole purpose is to help you create dynamic black-and-white images.
Why use SEP and not some other plugins or a software suite? Simply put, SEP does a better job because of its unique algorithm, which is designed to render a superior tonal range with exceptional contrast and texture control features. Its U-point technology allows you to make both global and very selective adjustments, depending on your visual direction, and its easy-to-navigate interface makes doing all of this fun! As photographers, you should own software that makes your life easier and that helps your visions come to life. SEP does just that.
Managing Your Files
Using SEP can be as straightforward as importing an image, applying a preset, and calling it good. Or, the process can be as complicated as creating several layers in Adobe Photoshop and mixing and matching different plugins to create your desired look. Regardless of the approach, all of my images start out in Adobe Lightroom before they are exported either into Photoshop or directly into SEP.
Proper image management is crucial to creating a seamless workflow, so I recommend using a program like Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture to manage your image library.
Two Approaches to Using SEP
When I first started using SEP, I exported the images directly into SEP, made the desired adjustments, and then saved the images back into my Lightroom library. This is still a great approach for black-and-white conversions, and if you're new to the plugin, I recommend this is where you start (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1. Exporting from a host program like Lightroom.
However, for those of you who use SEP in conjunction with Photoshop, you will benefit from the additional flexibility of being able to brush on certain effects (I'll show you how in Chapter 7), adjust blending and opacity, add layers—the list goes on. All of this flexibility comes at the cost of additional software and larger files but is well worth it when you're trying to create your unique vision.
Analyzing Your Image
Every time I import a new image into SEP I get a little giddy, simply because it feels like I'm an artist staring at a canvas. But instead of a blank canvas, it has a grayscale sketch of my image. The trick is to learn to use the tools in SEP to bring that sketch to life by dodging, burning, using the color filters, or choosing one of the many presets. Of course, understanding how to apply or when to apply these tools is part of the learning curve. By the end of this chapter, you'll be analyzing and creating wonderful black-and-white images.
When you import an image into SEP, first you want to examine it carefully without any distractions, so it's best to always start off in Single Image Preview. Once you have your image in front of you sans any distractions, you can take a three-part approach to evaluating it (Figure 4.2).
Figure 4.2. Use Single Image Preview to analyze your image.
- Identify the compositional components that make the image unique. It will be your job to highlight those components based on their characteristics and determine whether they require you to dodge, burn, amplify the texture, and so on.
- Evaluate the tonal quality of the image. Begin by looking at the image and comparing it to the histogram. Is the image relatively flat with mostly midtones (Figure 4.3), or does it have a lot of contrast? Is it dark (low key) with the histogram pushed to the left (Figure 4.4), or is it light (high key) with the histogram pushed to the right (Figure 4.5)?
Figure 4.3. This histogram shows a lot of midtones with some contrast.
Figure 4.4. Notice how the histogram is pushed to the left in zones 0–3.
Figure 4.5. Notice how the histogram is pushed to the right in zones 7–9.
- Envision how the image will look when you're done. Or, determine if you are at a loss for where to take it and need one of the many presets (Figure 4.6) to help guide your direction.
Figure 4.6. If you need help finding a creative path, start with a preset.
You're probably thinking that I spend a lot of time talking to myself; well, I won't deny it! But following the simple steps that I just outlined will help steer your process so you won't click presets aimlessly and move your sliders around until the image "just looks right." Although there's nothing necessarily wrong with that approach, it's not the most efficient or consistent way to produce a great image.
Setting Up Your Editing Workspace
Immediately after you've finished analyzing your image (Figure 4.7), one of the decisions you should make is whether or not you'll need to review the original color image during processing. By default, SEP displays only the grayscale conversion of the original image (Figure 4.8), so if you need to review the original color image, you need to change a few settings before beginning.
Figure 4.7. Chicago, 2011; the last snow storm of the year. I used the color cast to my advantage when converting to black and white.
Figure 4.8. The default comparison view is set to the (000 Neutral) preset.
You might be wondering why you would need to review the color image. Well, you might use Selective Color to bring some color back into the image; in that case you'll definitely benefit from reviewing the original color image. In the image of a woman carrying groceries during a snowstorm in Figure 4.9, you'll notice a lot of yellow in the original. So I was able to brighten the image simply by using the yellow color slider, which has a very unique and different effect than if I had just used the Brightness slider.
Figure 4.9. I prefer to set my comparison view to the original color.


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Vin Scully will usher in 2014 as grand marshal of the 125th Rose Parade, an honor the Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster initially wasn't sure he would accept.
The more he thought about it, though, the more he warmed up to the idea, calling it "one of those one-in-a-million experiences."
Scully will be joined by his wife, Sandi, for the 5 ½-mile ride down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena on Jan. 1. He was introduced as grand marshal on Thursday at Tournament House.
He told The Associated Press in an interview before the announcement that his first reaction to being chosen was, "Wow."
Then came some doubt.
The intensely private Scully is rarely seen publicly after the Dodgers' season ends, preferring to spend the winter months at home with his wife of nearly 40 years and their extended family.
The prospect of being the center of attention for several hundred thousand parade revelers and a worldwide television audience had Scully thinking carefully. His wife provided some gentle persuasion.
"She kind of pushed him that on behalf of the Dodgers and on behalf of the fans he needed to do this," Tournament of Roses President R. Scott Jenkins told the AP.
"He is such a humble person that I feared he would not want to be out there and get the accolades. He spends the summer applauding our sports heroes. He is our hero and we get to applaud him and his life's work," Jenkins said.
Scully questioned why he would be chosen as grand marshal, an honor that has previously gone to such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. Dodgers star Jackie Robinson was posthumously chosen in 1999, and home run king Hank Aaron served in 1975.
"I don't take it as any personal, great accomplishment," he said. "I only take it for what it is, the fact that I've been doing this for so long here and the Dodgers are doing well. It's not me."
That humility, along with Scully's career accomplishments and his integrity, is why Jenkins chose Scully.
"With Vin Scully you do know what you're going to get," he said. "That's why I think he's held in such high esteem."
Jenkins grew up in Los Angeles in the 1960s, and spent his summer nights falling asleep to Scully's dulcet voice over a transistor radio on his pillow.
"I have very fond memories and I'm sure I'm not the only one," he said.
Scully, who turns 86 in November, recently announced he will return to the booth for a record 65th season in 2014. He began his broadcasting career in 1950, when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. He works alone calling all nine innings of the team's televised games, with the first three innings simulcast on the radio.
The Dodgers lead the National League West standings, and are headed to their first playoff appearance in four years.
Presiding over the floral spectacle as grand marshal will bring Scully full circle. He has fond memories of doing parade commentary for ABC in 1969 with "Bewitched" star Elizabeth Montgomery and he rode on the Dodgers' float in recent years.
He recalled making the turn from the street where the entries are assembled onto Colorado Boulevard.
"It took my breath away because it was a canyon of people on either side," he said. "I've never seen anything quite like that. In the beginning I was really carried away with the sight."
Scully's family includes five living children and 17 grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 22. But they won't be in the parade,
"We'd have to have a float," he said. "That would really inconvenience a lot of people."
As part of his duties, Scully will flip the coin before the 100th Rose Bowl game later that day. He'll also participate in various Tournament of Roses events leading up to the parade that carries the theme "Dreams Come True."
Used to working nights calling baseball, Scully will have to be up extra early on New Year's Day. He will join Jenkins and their wives for a 6:30 a.m. breakfast at Tournament House before lining up for the parade.
Scully joked that if his arm gets tired waving at the crowds for about two hours, "I'll have my wife do it."


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Whether it was "Art of the Deal" posturing or something else entirely, President Trump on Tuesday morning tweeted that he didn't see a deal coming out of an afternoon meeting scheduled with congressional leaders including Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.
Meeting with "Chuck and Nancy" today about keeping government open and working. Problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our Country unchecked, are weak on Crime and want to substantially RAISE Taxes. I don't see a deal!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2017
That set off a back-and-forth that played out in prepared statements and appearances for TV cameras throughout the day. The Democratic leaders backed out of their sit-down. Their request to meet with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan was rebuffed. Trump, McConnell and Ryan went ahead with their meeting anyway.
But the bottom line is this: The December 8 deadline for funding the government and avoiding a partial shutdown hasn't changed and while Congress may still agree to a short-term deal, an agreement on a larger 2018 spending bill doesn't look any closer.


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This training is provided by the Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council (TCCC) in partnership with NHI to review integrated materials and construction practices for concrete pavement. The training was developed by the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center at Iowa State University. This training is recommended for the Transportation Curriculum Coordination Council levels III and IV. This course is primarily intended for inspectors and technicians.
This module covers the properties of fresh concrete needed to produce high-quality, long lasting pavements and how to monitor these properties.
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FHWA-NHI-134087 TCCC Mix Design Principles
FHWA-NHI-134095 TCCC Early Age Cracking
FHWA-NHI-134096 TCCC Basics of Cement Hydration
FHWA-NHI-134098 TCCC Construction of Concrete Pavements
FHWA-NHI-134100 TCCC QCQA for Concrete Pavements
FHWA-NHI-134101 TCCC Design of Pavement
FHWA-NHI-134102 TCCC Troubleshooting for Concrete Pavements
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
This training is designed for FHWA, State, and local agencies and their industry counterparts involved in the process to assure that the properties of a concrete mixture provide ease in placement, ease of consolidation, and long lasting pavement. It is applicable to anyone desiring a better understanding of the properties of Portland cement concrete.
If you have questions about this NHI training, please contact NHI at email@example.com or 877.558.6873.
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text:
Blasphemy in Buffalo Diocese
Full, dreadful story here.
Full, dreadful story here.
News and comment on church closings and on modern Catholic life throughout the world. The practice of Catholic devotions as a remedy and in reparation will also be encouraged. If anyone has any news on any Catholic Church closures anywhere in the world, pictures and suggested links please feel free to e-mail. Also pay a visit to the extensive archives- also click on labels.


text:
Rite Aid Pharmacy Pill Pouches, Airtight, 50 pouches
Browse all deals at Rite Aid
See more in Pillboxes
* This offer may contain time-sensitive information and offers. Please check with Rite Aid to confirm actual price & availability.
- Be the first to comment!
Rite Aid
219 Macarthur Dr
Alexandria, LA 71303
Rite Aid
601 Keyser Ave
Natchitoches, LA 71457


text:
Unfortunately I'll be a the World Con this upcoming week -- otherwise I'd loved to catch the opening for Rick Berry's solo exhibit. If you are in the New England area, this is where the cool kids will be:
Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery
August 7-30
Opening reception: August 7 5:00-7:00pm
Artist Talk: August 22nd, 4:30-6:00
Peterborough, NH
He'll be exhibiting large paintings and charcoal drawings, including a series of drawings done while artist-in-residence at the Boston Opera. He spent a season behind the scenes attending rehearsal, tech, costuming for Shostokovich's "The Nose." The result is a great series of large, expressive, and often darkly comedic drawings.
I am sorry to miss this -- perhaps we can get Mr. Robert Wiener (publisher of Donald Grant Books) to take a few shots to share. (Robert!?) In meantime, you can take a peek into Rick's studio in this Flickr set.


text:
I guess it was just a matter of time before white-label mobile broadband service offerings entered the mobile data lexicon. Spanish PC manufacturer AIRIS has recently concluded a promotion offering a mobile broadband laptop bundle with no specific operator branding. The white-label offer shows how mobile broadband is rapidly becoming a commodity in Spain and in most of Europe. AIRIS ran the promotion (see picture) with Spanish national daily newspaper El Mundo, offering a free ultra-portable laptop and modem to anyone who collected vouchers from the newspaper and signed up for either a 12-month contract with Telefonica or a 24-month contract with Orange Spain. Although the terms of the contract are not any more favourable than those offered directly by mobile operators, the lack of operator branding shows that operators are not the only players pushing bundled mobile broadband offers in Spain.
The reason for such white-label mobile broadband offers in Spain becomes apparent when you consider that close to 30% of Spanish households have neither PCs nor fixed broadband – a ready target for mobile operators, PC vendors and who knows what in the future. This number is actually higher in Portugal (60%), Greece (40%), Italy (40%) as well as France (30%). Expect such white-label services to be launched in these countries very soon.
The flood of new MVNOs in Spain (most of them through Orange) has been the primary reason why non-mobile operators such as fixed Internet service providers are launching mobile broadband services. In addition to AIRIS, Spanish broadband operators Jazztel and Ono have also recently launched mobile broadband packages. Jazztel is offering both a prepaid tariff costing €0.20 per megabyte and a contract offering 250MB for €7.95 a month. The company offers its mobile Internet service as an extension to the mobile voice service it launched in June through its MVNO agreement with Orange.
Cable operator Ono is also promoting "free" mobile broadband up to 5MB a day under the brand BAMG (Banda Ancha Movil Gratis) for users who buy a dual- or triple-play bundle of TV, phone and fixed Internet. KPN-backed Simyo (offered through Orange again), for example, is undercutting the three network operators by offering up to 5GB of data transfer over HSPA for €24.99 a month, with no fixed contract length. While the data packages of Jazztel and Ono are fairly limited, KPN-Simyo has aggressively priced its mobile broadband offering – traditionally Telefonica and Vodafone have not been too willing to bring down the mobile broadband pricing premium (which is close to 45% above that of fixed broadband), Orange which has probably a lot less to lose has thrown the gauntlet through its MVNO partner.


text:
Nystatin Pastilles for the Prevention of Oral Candidiasis in Patients With AIDS or ARC
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00002057
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : August 31, 2001
Last Update Posted : October 2, 2007
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Candidiasis, Oral HIV Infections
|Drug: Nystatin
|Not Applicable
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Nystatin Pastilles for the Prevention of Oral Candidiasis in Patients With AIDS or ARC
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|12 Years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria
Concurrent Medication:
- Systemic or oral antibiotics.
- Experimental drugs (IND drugs) which are targeted specifically against the AIDS (group IV CDC classification) virus or stimulate the immune system.
Patients with the following conditions are included:
- AIDS or AIDS related complex (ARC) (HIV infection Group 3 or 4, CDC classification) who have had culture-proven oral candidiasis clinically cured within 7 days of study entry and are likely to be compliant for the 20 weeks of nystatin pastille prophylaxis.
- Able to follow instructions regarding the use of a pastille.
- Patients entering part II of this study (randomized double-blind) must have been clinically cured of oral candidiasis within 1 - 7 days of entry into this randomized study.
- Oral lesions such as Kaposi's sarcoma, herpes zoster, and herpes simplex can be enrolled.
Exclusion Criteria
Co-existing Condition:
Patients with the following are excluded:
- Systemic candidiasis.
- Hypersensitivity to nystatin.
- Suspected or proven candidal esophagitis.
Patients with the following are excluded:
- Systemic candidiasis.
- Projected survival of less than 6 months.
- Unable to maintain a pastille in the buccal cavity for approximately 20 minutes twice a day.
- Hypersensitivity to nystatin.
- Suspected or proven candidal esophagitis.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00002057
|United States, Alabama
|Birmingham Veterans Administration Med Ctr / Univ of Alabama
|Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233
|United States, New Jersey
|Bristol - Myers Squibb Co
|Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 085434000
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|August 31, 2001 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|October 2, 2007
|Last Verified:
|October 2007
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
AIDS-Related Complex
Candidiasis, Oral
Candidiasis, Oral
Mouth Diseases
Stomatognathic Diseases
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Anti-Infective Agents
Antifungal Agents
Membrane Transport Modulators
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action


text:
Pilots Can Soon Use Their iPads in the Cockpit to Replace All Paper Materials
Previously, I reported that pilots were using special apps to help cut down on paper clutter in the cockpit by storing digital copies of flight charts. Now, the Federal Aviation Administration is going to allow for the expanded usage of iPads in the cockpit for the use and storage of charts and manuals as well as flight charts in the cockpit during flights, starting with American Airlines flights on Boeing 777 planes on Friday, December 16th. What's curious is that even just by lightening flight loads by 35 pounds as iPad usage versus paper materials provides, airlines can save $1.2 million in fuel costs. For cash-strapped airlines like American Airlines, this is surely wonderful news.
This raises the question, of course, if pilots can now use their iPads in the cockpit, and if they can have them on during landing and takeoff as they conceivably could, what's stopping the FAA from allowing people to use their own iPads at the same time, far away from the sensitive equipment? With little evidence to suggest that electronic devices offer any kind of risk, it might be time for the FAA to re-examine this policy.


text:
Agar, Ashton, Barber, Birks, Blair, Bowser, Brazil, Burnley, Bussell, Butler, Bynon, Campbell, Capsticks, Clark, Cockburn, Cordeux, Corduex, Cordukes, Cornish, Coulson, Dasey, Deller, Derbyshire, Giblett, Harley, Hazlewood, Holmes, Hudson, Hugill, Johnson, Lamont, Leaper, Livermore, Livermore, MacDonald, Matthew, McCall, McColl, McKenzie, McNaughton, Mountain, Mustell, Nicholson, Peacock, Porter, Sheppard, Sherring, Smith, Steinke, Upright, Weaver, Webster, Wells.
Family Groups
Those surnames are from three family lines that I am currently researching (CAMPBELL, HUDSON, WEBSTER). The family groups include:
- CAMPBELL line - Scotland (Argyllshire) or Australia:
Blair, Campbell, Cockburn, Coulson, Holmes, Lamont, Livermore, Sherring, McCall, McColl, MacDonald, McKenzie, McNaughton, Webster, Wells.
- HUDSON line - England or Australia:
Agar, Ashton, Barber, Birks, Bowser, Burnley, Bynon, Capsticks, Clark, Cordeux, Corduex, Cordukes, Dasey, Deller, Derbyshire, Hudson, Hugill, Johnson, Leaper, Matthew, Mountain, Peacock, Upright.
- WEBSTER line - England or Australia (but NICHOLSON is Ireland + Australia):
Brazil, Bussell, Butler, Campbell, Cornish, Giblett, Harley, Hazlewood, Livermore, Mustell, Nicholson, Porter, Sheppard, Sherring, Smith, Steinke, Weaver, Webster.
For most of these families, more details are on my Web site at www.judywebster.com.au or in stories about my ancestors.


text:
Yesterday the Georgia DOT opened two new ramps onto GA-400 at Hammond Drive. The opening marks the completion of a $17 million project begun in 2008.
Early in my career I spent a few years working at the Concourse office park, right next to the king and queen buildings. It was a miserable experience. Half my commute was spent on the surface streets of Sandy Springs before even getting onto GA-400. Oh how I would have loved this on-ramp back then.
Allow me to use this occasion to put the money into perspective. When you start throwing millions of dollars around, the scale tends to get distorted.
$17 million is going to go a long way towards helping traffic in Sandy Springs. It'll also save a ton of time for many folks commuting there from north Fulton and Forsyth.
On the flip side, the proposed T-SPLOST would fund a MARTA extension to Holcomb Bridge at a staggering cost of $839 million. This is without factoring in cost over-runs, which are almost certain for a transit project like this.
How many projects on the scale of a Hammond Road project could be funded for that kind of cash? Nearly fifty if my math is correct. Would you like Rucker Road widened? How about Windward, Kimball Bridge, McGinnis Ferry or Highway 9? Pick about fifty of them to trade for a few miles of MARTA track.
Remember that the Dunwoody/Sandy Springs area already has four MARTA stations, yet their surface streets are hopelessly clogged morning, noon and night. For the small price of $17 million, thousands of cars will be removed from roads like Peachtree Dunwoody, Barfield and Abernathy.
There's plenty of low hanging fruit left to be harvested. Let's get to picking!
Photo Credit: Markhoward (creative commons)


text:
@courtjustice#METBall Update: Look out for Jessica Alba, Kate Upton, Azealia Banks, Kristen Stewart and Heidi Klum on Monday night. #Fancy #METGala.
Kimmel is being taped -- that's how it's possible for a Kristen Stewart MET Ball appearance.
via KStewAngel
According to 1iota Kristen is taping her Kimmel segment tonight, May 3rd. via @patsystew
The MET Gala Red Carpet Live. May 7th 6:30 EST at Amazon.com/Fashion
And follow @MetMuseum on Twitter
And follow @MetMuseum on Twitter


text:
08 October 2017
A wayward weedkiller divides farm communities, harms wildlife.
Farmers have used dicamba for many years. But this year, they used more of it, and they used it in a new way.
A Wayward Weedkiller Divides Farm Communities, Harms Wildlife

By DAN CHARLES • 6 HOURS AGO

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Damage to soybean plants and other crops has led to arguments and strain between neighbors.

DAN CHARLES / NPR

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Richard Coy inspects one of his hives near Burdette, Ark. Honey production at this location fell by almost half this year — which he attributes to the drifting of weedkiller dicamba to nearby flowering plants.

DAN CHARLES / NPR

 VIEW SLIDESHOW 3 of 4

Pigweeds, which have become resistant to some well-known herbicides, infest a soybean field in northwestern Arkansas.

DAN CHARLES / NPR

 VIEW SLIDESHOW 4 of 4

David Wildy, who farms near Manila, Ark., did not plant the new dicamba-tolerant soybeans. By midsummer, his plants were bent and stopped growing.

DAN CHARLES / NPR

Listen Listening...

Originally published on October 7, 2017 1:44 pm

There is one small field on Michael Sullivan's farm, near the town of Burdette, Ark., that he wishes he could hide from public view.

The field is a disaster. There are soybeans in there, but you could easily overlook them. The field has been overrun by monsters: ferocious-looking plants called pigweeds, as tall as people and bursting with seeds that will come back to haunt any crops that Sullivan tries to grow here for years to come.

"I'm embarrassed to say that we farm that field," Sullivan says. "We sprayed it numerous times, and it didn't kill it."

These weeds have become resistant to Sullivan's favorite herbicides, including glyphosate, which goes by the trade name Roundup.

Yet the rest of Sullivan's farm is beautiful. As farmers like to say, the fields are "clean." There is not a weed to be seen.

In those fields, he planted soybeans that enjoy a novel superpower. They've been genetically modified by Monsanto, the biotech giant, so that they tolerate a different weed-killing chemical, called dicamba.

As a result, starting this year, Sullivan got to spray dicamba on those soybeans. And he loves the results.

"Now we finally got a chemical [where] we can farm clean and be proud of our crop. And don't have these vicious pigweeds coming up," he says.

But there is a dark side of this weed-killing revolution, and David Wildy is living it.

"It's a real disaster," Wildy says. His voice sounds tired.

Wildy is well-known in Arkansas's farming community. He was named Southeast Farmer of the Year in 2016. This year, he planted the same soybeans that he has in previous years, not the new dicamba-tolerant ones. He didn't think he needed them.

But in midsummer, all across his farm, a strange thing started happening. Soybean leaves bent into cupped shapes. Plants stopped growing.

"My heart just came up in my throat, thinking, 'Oh my gosh, we've got a real problem,' " Wildy says.

He was seeing the telltale symptoms of dicamba damage. Apparently, dicamba fumes had drifted into his farm from fields up to a mile away where neighbors had sprayed the chemical on their new dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton.

Herbicide drift is a familiar problem for farmers. What happened this summer, though, was unprecedented in its scale. Dicamba damage was reported all over the Midwest and mid-South, from Mississippi to Minnesota. Farmers filed thousands of complaints. They reported damage to tomato fields, watermelons, fruit trees and many other crops.

Farmers have used dicamba for many years. But this year, they used more of it, and they used it in a new way, spraying it over soybeans and cotton in the heat of summer, which can cause the chemical to vaporize from soil or leaves and drift away to damage other plants nearby.

Soybeans are especially sensitive to dicamba. Wildy says that every single soybean field on his farm — thousands of acres — showed some injury. A third of those acres were hit hard enough to reduce his harvest. He says it probably will cost him several hundred thousand dollars.

Just as upsetting is the loss of trust between neighbors, as farmers argue over who should pay for those damaged crops.

One such argument led to a killing last year, and the horror of it still hangs over conversations about dicamba damage in northeast Arkansas. Mike Wallace, a farmer in Monette, Ark., had complained repeatedly about damage caused by a neighbor's dicamba use. At that time, the chemical was being used illegally. For reasons as yet unknown, Wallace arranged a meeting on an isolated back road with a man named Allan Curtis Jones, who worked on that farm. An argument broke out and Wallace was shot. Jones is awaiting trial for the killing.

"It's something that is so heartbreaking to me. I see farmers taking sides, and enemies being made," Wildy says. "It's a situation that is so catastrophic and appalling, I never would have thought that I would see something like this."

Sometimes, farmers can't tell where the wind-blown dicamba came from. In other cases, the source of the damage is clear, but farmers who sprayed it insist that they sprayed the chemical exactly as directed and refuse to accept responsibility for any damage.

Tom Burnham, a farmer near Blytheville, Ark., whose fields were damaged, says that some of his neighbors were helpful and reported the damage to their insurance companies, just as they would do if they were in a car accident.

"But there's some who were so nonchalant about the situation, so unforthcoming, I don't think those relationships will ever be repaired," he says. "As a human being, I can't trust someone like that."

Farmers also are battling over whether they'll get to use this weedkiller next year. David Wildy has taken a stand against further dicamba use.

"Regardless of how good it is, and how much I need it, if I can't keep it from damaging my neighbor, we can't use it," he says.

Michael Sullivan, meanwhile, the farmer with the pigweed problem, thinks that farmers have no alternative.

"The technology is too good to just trash it," he says. "Pigweeds are literally going to take the country over if we don't control them."

Sullivan thinks the problem of damaged crops can be solved. The benefits of dicamba-tolerant crops will be so obvious, he says, that almost all the farmers in his area will decide to plant them — which means that there won't be any vulnerable crops that dicamba would damage.

That might reduce the damage to crops, but the resulting free-fire zone for dicamba could be bad news for other vegetation, such as wildflowers and trees.

The wider ecological impact of dicamba drift received little attention at first. Richard Coy, whose family-run company manages 13,000 beehives in Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri, was one of the few people who noticed it.

"If I were not a beekeeper, I would pay no attention to the vegetation in the ditches and the fence rows," he says. But his bees feed on that vegetation.

Coy takes me to a group of hives parked between an overgrown ditch and a soybean field, in an area where farmers sprayed a lot of dicamba this summer.

"Do you see this vine right here?" he asks. "The green one, [that] has little tags? Those tags should have been blooming during the month of July. As of today, they have not bloomed."

No blossoms means less pollen for his bees. Coy thinks that dicamba drift is the most likely explanation. Other plants nearby, such as a cottonwood tree, showed clear symptoms of exposure to dicamba.

Honey production at his site is down by 40 percent to 50 percent, Coy says. Across the region, in areas where farmers sprayed dicamba, honey production dropped by about one-third, on average. If farmers keep spraying dicamba, he says, he'll have to move his hives somewhere else.

But the fate of his business isn't as important as the fate of the environment. Dicamba exposure "affects "things that people are not even aware of," he says. "It affects the butterflies, and all pollinators. But all of these insects are in the environment for a reason, and they all have to be sustained for everything to work as it should."

Along the southern shore of Tennessee's Reelfoot Lake, a well-known state park, bald cypress and oak trees also showed symptoms of dicamba exposure this summer. Nathan Hoover, a forest health specialist with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, called the damage "minor" and says he expects the trees to recover.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many states are taking a close look at dicamba use. Regulators in Arkansas have voted to ban most spraying of dicamba in the state next summer, but the governor and leaders of the state Legislature still need to sign off on it.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This summer in Arkansas, a weed-killing chemical called dicamba drifted across the landscape and damaged millions of acres of crops. And the injury went deeper. It split rural communities. It destroyed friends and took a toll on the natural environment. The extent of that damage remains unclear. NPR's Dan Charles has the story.

DAN CHARLES, HOST:

There is one small field on Mike Sullivan's farm that he wishes people couldn't see. There are soybeans in there. But you might not even see them because this field's been overrun by monsters, ferocious-looking looking plants called pigweeds, as tall as a person and bursting with seeds that will continue the plague.

MIKE SULLIVAN: I'm embarrassed to say that we farm that field. But we sprayed it numerous times, and it didn't kill it.

CHARLES: Pigweeds have become resistant to the herbicide Sullivan's been using. The rest of Sullivan's farm, though, is beautiful, weed-free. Those fields he planted with a new line of soybeans with a special superpower. They've been genetically modified - by the biotech company Monsanto - so they can tolerate a different weed-killing chemical called dicamba. This summer, Sullivan got to spray dicamba on those soybeans for the first time. And he loves it.

SULLIVAN: Now we've finally got a chemical, and we can actually farm clean and be proud of our crop and don't have these vicious pigweeds coming up.

CHARLES: Drive half an hour to the west, though, and you can see a dark side of this weed-killing revolution.

DAVID WILDY: It's a real disaster.

CHARLES: This is David Wildy, Southeastern Farmer Of The Year in 2016. This year, he planted the same soybeans as usual, not the new dicamba-tolerant varieties. And all across his farm, strange things started happening. Soybean leaves distorted into cupped shapes. Plants stopped growing.

WILDY: My heart just came up in my throat thinking - oh, my gosh, you know, we've got a real problem.

CHARLES: That injury was caused by dicamba. And the best explanation seems to be dicamba fumes drifted in from fields up to a mile away, where his neighbors sprayed it on their crops. This happened all over the Midwest this year, from Mississippi to Minnesota. Farmers reported dicamba damage on tomato fields, watermelons, fruit trees. Dicamba has been used for decades actually, but farmers are using more of it now. And it's being sprayed in the heat of summer, when it's more likely to vaporize from the fields where it first landed and drift away.

As Wildy drives past his damaged fields, he says this probably will cost him several hundred thousand dollars. But what upsets him even more is what it's done to the farming community.

WILDY: It's something that is so heartbreaking to me that I see farmers taking sides and enemies being made. It's just a situation that is so catastrophic and appalling that I would've never thought I would have seen something like this.

CHARLES: Farmers are battling over who will pay for damaged crops and also whether they'll get to use this weed-killer next year. David Wildy has taken a stand against it.

WILDY: Regardless of how good it is, how much I need it - if I can't keep from damaging my neighbor, we can't use it.

CHARLES: Mike Sullivan, though, the farmer who's fighting that pigweed problem - he says he has to use it.

SULLIVAN: The technology is too good to just trash it because pigweeds are literally going to take the country over if we don't control them.

CHARLES: Sullivan thinks dicamba-tolerant soybeans are so good almost all the farmers in his area will decide to plant them, which means there won't be any vulnerable crops for dicamba to damage. That could solve the farmers' problem, but it could intensify another problem that's getting more and more attention from non-farmers. Drifting dicamba can also damage wildflowers and trees. This past summer, Richard Coy was one of the few people who noticed...

RICHARD COY: If I weren't a beekeeper, I would not pay attention to the vegetation in the ditches and the fence rows.

CHARLES: ...Because Coy's bees feed on that vegetation. He takes me to a group of hives parked between an overgrown ditch and a soybean field. Lots of farmers sprayed dicamba around here.

COY: Do you see this vine right here?

CHARLES: Yeah, yeah.

COY: It's green, and it has little tags.

CHARLES: Right, right.

COY: Those tags should have been blooming during the month of July. As of today, they have not bloomed.

CHARLES: Other plants also suffered. That meant less pollen for his bees. Coy's company has 13,000 hives across Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri. In places where there was a lot of dicamba spraying this past summer, his honey production dropped by a third. If farmers keep spraying it, he says he'll have to move his hives somewhere else. And he says that's not even the most important thing.

COY: It affects things that people are not even aware of. It affects the butterflies. But all of these insects are in this environment for a reason, and they all have to be able to be sustained for everything to work as the way it should.

CHARLES: Many states and the Environmental Protection Agency are taking a closer look at dicamba use. Regulators in Arkansas have voted to ban most spraying of the chemical next summer. But the governor and leaders of the state legislature still need to sign off on it.

Dan Charles, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAMMAL HANDS' "KANDAIKI") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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text:
In order to ensure public safety and mobility, activities in the City's right of way (ROW) must be permitted. Online applications are available for Driveway/Sidewalk, Excavation, Film, Parking, Temporary Use of Right of Way, Valet (Annual and Temp), and Vending. You can also apply for Small Cell Permits, Street Events, and Utility Coordination. Apply online via the Right of Way Management Approval Network (ROWMAN) site.
March 23, 2020
October 7, 2019
August 12, 2019
May 9, 2017


text:
It's a pretty wild scene. Seemed like I should write a song about it.
Jacob Kart is an independent musician: guitarist and songwriter, based in Chicago. He has appeared in the bands Crush Kill Destroy, Medium Size Rabbit, and Bullet Hell and has also released several solo records. His new solo album, Life Of Crime, is out later this year on Pionic Records.
On this track:
Jacob Kart, Guitars, Synthesizer, Vocals
"Singletrack" is CAR's Artist Story for Chicago performers in which songwriters, bands, playwrights, actors and writers discuss the creation of a recorded work alongside audio or video clips of the performance. To submit your song for consideration, please email our researchers.


text:
You're encountering the clipping plane, which is just the "front" of the 3D modeling space.
To readjust your view, select the View Move tool and click and drag one of the corner handles down. This will back up your view so that all of your object is in the view.
You could also use Fit Views to All or Reset View from the Windows menu to reset your view.


text:
KANSAS CITY, Kansas – Real Salt Lake lost MLS Cup 2013 in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday, falling 1-1 (7-6) to Sporting Kansas City after a penalty kick shootout at Sporting Park.
RSL FW Alvaro Saborio – making his return to the lineup after missing RSL's Western Conference Championship series against Portland Timbers due to a hip flexor strain – put the Claret-and-Cobalt on top in the 52nd minute, firing a 20-yard half volley home past SKC GK Jimmy Nielsen. Sporting equalized in the 76th minute, when DF Aurelien Collin buried a FW Graham Zusi corner kick from 10 yards out.
Neither side scored in extra time, sending the match into a penalty kick shootout. RSL fell into a 2-0 hole in the shootout, but climbed all the way back, tying Sporting 3-3 after the first five shooters. The sides traded goals and misses until the 10th shooters, with Collin burying his penalty for SKC before RSL DF Lovel Palmer sent his spot kick off the crossbar to give SKC the shootout by a 7-6 margin.
As it so often has in championship matches, RSL hit the woodwork an agonizing three times in regulation on Saturday – the most any one time has hit the post/crossbar in MLS Cup history.
Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, Kansas City had the match's first chance in the fourth minute. Sporting MF
Graham Zusi collected a ball on the left flank, hitting an early cross to MF Paulo Nagumara at the top-right corner of the box. Nagamura hit a first-time shot, slicing his volley wide of the mark from 15 yards.
Sporting KC Head Coach Peter Vermes was forced into his first substation in the seventh minute, inserting MF Lawrence Olum for injured MF Uri Rosell, who left with a sprained left ankle. The sub was the earliest change in MLS Cup history.
RSL GK Nick Rimando came up with a huge reaction stop in the 25th minute to keep Kansas City off the board. Zusi again started the opportunity, finding FW C.J. Sapong at the right post with a cross from the left flank. The big target forward headed on frame from the top-right of the six, forcing Rimando to parry around the post with a fine reaction stop.
Real Salt Lake went agonizingly close to going ahead in the 29th minute, when FW Robbie Findley hit the post. DF Chris Wingert created the chance, lobbing a cross in from the left flank. SKC GK Jimmy Nielsen failed to deal with the ball, popping his punch up in the air and toward the back post. The ball fell to Findley on the right edge of the six, where the speedy striker hit a first-time effort toward the open goal and off the right post.
The Claret-and-Cobalt had another good look in the 36th. MF Javier Morales chipped a free kick into the center of the box from 25 yards out, with Saborio getting on the end of it at the top of the six. Unfortunately for RSL, the Costa Rican international – who had his back to goal – couldn't direct his header on frame, flicking it wide of the right post.
Kansas City had one last chance deep into first half stoppage time. DF Matt Besler ran onto a RSL clearance in the center of the Claret-and-Cobalt's half, chipping a ball into the Real Salt Lake area. FW Dom Dwyer ran onto the chance, taking a touch to the right and attempting to chip Rimando from eight yards. RSL's veteran 'keeper came up with another tremendous stop, racing off his line to smartly block Dwyer's effort.
Sporting nearly took the lead three minutes into the second half. Zusi swerved in a free kick from the left side, again finding Sapong, this time at the near post. The third-year forward collected the ball on the bounce at the left side of the six, squandering the opportunity by firing over the bar from four yards.
Saborio put Real Salt Lake ahead in the 52nd minute with a beautiful strike. Captain Kyle Beckerman collected the ball in the center of SKC's half, deftly chipping ahead to Saborio just outside the box. The target striker took an expert first touch, taking the ball down with his chest before rifling a 20-yard half volley past a sprawling Nielsen and inside the right post with the outside of his boot.
Beckerman nearly doubled RSL's lead in the 62nd. The Claret-and-Cobalt captain collected a Robbie Findley pass in the center of the pitch, taking a touch to his right before hitting a dipping right-footer from 30 yards that bounced past Nielsen and caromed off the far post.
RSL hit the post again in the 73rd minute, this time through Morales. The play began with Findley breaking down the left side. Findley eventually cut in on his right foot, hitting a square ball behind the streaking Morales. RSL's Argentine maestro dropped back to collect Findley's pass, trapping the ball, taking a touch and brilliantly chipping a 23-yard shot over Nielsen and toward goal. The curling attempt danced toward the line, but agonizingly hit off the post and across the face of goal before Nielsen collected.
The two near-misses came back to haunt RSL in the 76th minute, when Collin equalized for Sporting. Graham Zusi had the assist, curling a corner in from the right side that Collin headed inside the far post from 10 yards out.
SKC FW Claudio Bieler let RSL off the hook with a big miss in the 79th minute. Kansas City DF Seth Sinovic cut a neat square ball to an unmarked Bieler at the spot, but the substitute striker couldn't make it count, sending his left-footed effort well over the bar.
RSL MF Ned Grabavoy had a chance in the closing minutes, collecting a ball on the counter and firing over from the top of the box, left of center.
Grabavoy's chance took the game into extra time. SKC had the first chance of the extra period, with Rimando again coming up huge to keep things deadlocked. Sporting DF Chance Myers whipped a ball in from the right wing, finding Zusi just inside the penalty spot. The U.S. international got the bottom of his boot to it, sending a shot on goal that Rimando miraculously tipped over the bar.
Real Salt Lake nearly had a tiebreaker in the 105th minute, when Saborio headed home a Findley cross before it was disallowed for Saborio being offside.
The second period of extra time passed without any real chances from either side, and the match moved into penalties. Real Salt Lake fell into a 2-0 hole in the shootout, but climbed all the way back, deadlocking Kansas City 3-3 after the fifth kick and trading blows with Sporting until the 10th shooter, with Collin slotting his spot kick home before Palmer's reverberated off the crossbar to give SKC a 1-1 (7-6) MLS Cup victory. See below for full shootout results.
RSL will return to Utah on Sunday. The team will hold exit physicals and final media availability next week.
Click here to access video highlights and the RealSaltLake.com MATCHCENTER for RSL 1-1 (6-7) SKC
Shootout Results – RSL 1-1 (6-7) SKC
SKC – FW Claudio Bieler – Goal
RSL – FW Alvaro Saborio – Miss
SKC – MF Paulo Nagamura – Goal
RSL – MF Ned Grabavoy – Save
SKC – DF Matt Besler – Save
RSL – MF Kyle Beckerman – Goal
SKC – MF Benny Feilhaber – Goal
RSL – FW Joao Plata – Goal
SKC – FW Graham Zusi – Miss
RSL – MF Javier Morales – Goal
SKC – DF Seth Sinovic – Goal
RSL – DF Chris Schuler – Goal
SKC – FW C.J. Sapong – Goal
RSL – DF Tony Beltran – Goal
SKC – MF Lawrence Olum – Miss
RSL – MF Sebastian Velasquez – Save
SKC – DF Chance Myers – Goal
RSL – DF Nat Borchers – Goal
SKC – DF Aurelien Collin – Goal
RSL – DF Lovel Palmer – Miss
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSL 1-1 (6-7) SKC
- Tonight's match was RSL's second appearance in MLS Cup. RSL previously won MLS Cup 2009 against LA Galaxy in a penalty shootout in Seattle.
- Tonight's match was the first playoff meeting between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City. Real Salt Lake has only won once before at Kansas City – a 1-0 win over the Wizards on Aug. 29, 2009.
- Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City met once this year in MLS regular season play, a 2-1 loss at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 20. The Claret-and-Cobalt has a 5-8-3 all-time record in MLS regular season play against Kansas City.
- RSL FW Alvaro Saborio scored his fourth career playoff goal tonight in the 52nd minute. He ended the 2013 MLS regular season as the Claret-and-Cobalt's leading scorer with12 goals. Saborio made a return to the starting lineup tonight after suffering a right hip flexor strain in the Western Conference Semifinal second leg against LA Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium. The Costa Rican international sat out the Western Conference Championship series against Portland Timbers due to the injury.
- RSL FW Robbie Findley continues to be Real Salt Lake's all-time leading scorer in the postseason with six career playoff goals in 14 matches. Findley scored in back-to-back playoff games for the second time in his career – scoring in both legs of the Western Conference Championship against Portland Timbers. The last time Findley scored in consecutive postseason games was when he scored in each leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Columbus in Real's MLS Cup-winning season of 2009.
- RSL DF Chris Wingert made his return to the starting lineup for the Claret-and-Cobalt after suffering a fractured rib and pneumothorax in the Western Conference Championship first leg at Rio Tinto stadium on Nov. 10. Wingert was subbed out in tonight's MLS Cup match in the 72nd minute after re-injuring his rib.
- RSL rookie FW Devon Sandoval was missing from tonight's roster to due to a fractured foot – an injury sustained during the Claret-and-Cobalt's playoff campaign.
- With tonight's full shifts, Real Salt Lake Captain Kyle Beckerman and GK Nick Rimando have played all 1,830 minutes in RSL's 19-game playoff history.
- Seven Real Salt Lake starters tonight were on the team for MLS Cup 2009, and six that started today started that day. Nick Rimando started between the posts in 2009, DF Nat Borchers and Wingert started in the back four, Findley started in attack and MF Kyle Beckerman and MF Javier Morales were in the midfield, though Morales' day ended after just 22 minutes because of injury. DF Tony Beltran was an unused substitute in the 2009 final.
- Seven RSL players started all four matches in the MLS Cup Playoffs 2013 heading into MLS Cup: DF's Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers and Chris Schuler, MF's Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil and Javier Morales, and GK Nick Rimando. During this year's playoffs, 15 different players started matches for RSL. Tonight's particular starting lineup had not been used before by the Claret-and-Cobalt this year.
- For the first time in MLS Cup history, two teams outside the Top 10 media markets in the country (per designated market area) faced each other in the championship match. Kansas City is ranked No. 31 and Salt Lake City is No. 33
Goals by Period 1 2 F OT PKS
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1 0 6
Sporting Kansas City 0 1 1 0 7
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Alvaro Saborio – 52'
SKC – Aurelien Collin – 76'
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Chris WIngert (Yellow;Foul) – 24'
SKC – Aurelien Collin (Yellow; Foul) – 35'
RSL – Alvaro Saborio (Yellow; Foul) – 44'
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (Yellow; Foul) – 100'
SKC – Benny Feilhaber (Yellow; Foul) – 104'
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2): Nick Rimando; Chris Wingert (Lovel Palmer, 72'), Chris Schuler, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran; Kyle Beckerman (C), Luis Gil (Sebastian Velasquez, 87'), Javier Morales, Ned Grabavoy; Robbie Findley (Joao Plata, 112'), Alvaro Saborio
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Brandon McDonalad, Cole Grossman, Olmes Garcia
Sporting Kansas City (4-3-3): Jimmy Nielsen; Seth Sinovic, Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, Chance Myers; Oriol Rosell (Lawrence Olum, 8'), Paulo Nagamura, Benny Feilhaber, C.J. Sapong, Graham Zusi; Dom Dwyer (Claudio Bieler, 72')
Substitutes not used: Eric Kronberg, Federico Bessone, Ike Opara, Jacob Peterson, Teal Bunbury
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Assistant Referees: Paul Scott, Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Ismail Elfath
Attendance: 21,650
Weather: Clear and 20 degrees


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I was intrigued last week to read, in my parish bulletin, a short but fairly comprehensive history of the Stations of the Cross. In preparation for today's blog post, I spent a great deal of time hunting about on the internet for further information I wanted, with respect to a particular aspect of that history. The end result of this search has turned out to be rewarding, though not in the way I had anticipated.
For those unfamiliar with the term, the Stations of the Cross are a pious practice in which Catholics reflect and pray, recalling the various events surrounding Christ's Passion and Death on Good Friday. It is in a sense a spiritual pilgrimage back to Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. The Stations typically include His condemnation by Pilate, His walking to Calvary, and His Crucifixion, with each event representing a pause or "Station" along the Way of the Cross. Although they can be used at any time, the Stations are most often turned to on Fridays during Lent.
The number and names of the Stations have changed, as the practice has developed over the centuries. You can read more about how this took place in the entry located in the Catholic Encyclopedia. Today, there is a generally accepted list of fourteen or perhaps fifteen Stations, if one includes the Resurrection, though this last is a more contemporary addition to the list. The portrayal of the Stations in art, such as in paintings and sculpture, has led to their becoming what we might term a standard decoration for churches.
In the history of how the present-day set of Stations developed, which as stated above I read in my parish bulletin, there was a mention of the Franciscan Friary in the city of Antwerp, in present-day Belgium. In the early 16th century, the friars placed seven sculptural groups or "stations" in their cemetery, representing the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary. This is a separate, but related, pious custom, in which Catholics reflect on how Mary, the Mother of Jesus, witnessed the sufferings of her Son, and good mother that she was, experienced her own suffering.
The origin of this custom originally stems from the prophecy of Simeon, as recounted in the Gospel of St. Luke at 2:34-35. "And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His Mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted. And you yourself a sword will pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.' " The practice of prayer and reflection on the Seven Sorrows aided in the selection of what eventually became the list of the Stations of the Cross, since there was some overlap between the two lists.
Naturally enough, given my interest in art history, I wanted to find images of these Renaissance-era stations which the faithful could visit in Antwerp, particularly since they had been honored by Pope Leo X in 1520 as being worthy aides to this devotional practice. Unfortunately, despite trying every combination of search terms I could think of, this proved an unsuccessful effort. While there are many online entries about these sculptures, finding images of them or even figuring out the location of the friary cemetery where they were displayed turned out to be something of a hopeless quest.
Eventually, I managed to learn that the friary had been sacked and closed by Napoleon in 1810, and its church turned into a storage facility; it was later demolished in the mid-19th century. As for the cemetery and its famous Seven Sorrows, I could find no trace of what happened to these sculptures. It is well-known that Napoleon and his troops liked to commit acts of blasphemy against the Catholic Church, and so it is possible that they might have been destroyed, although hopefully a better-informed reader than I will be able to tell me what finally happened to them.
Yet the search for information on these objects, fruitless as it proved to be, was not in vain. In the process of researching about them, I not only learned more about the history and practice of mediation on the sufferings of Christ, but also about how Christians had reflected not only on the modern-day list of those sufferings with which I was already familiar, but on many others. For example, some lists included events such as Judas betraying Jesus, St. Peter's denial, and Jesus being mocked and beaten by King Herod. The process brought home to me a couple of things which may be worth keeping in mind during our Lenten devotions.
The Stations of the Cross are designed to be a devotional tool to aid in prayer, and they do a very good job of helping us to recall the sequence of events which ended with Jesus' Crucifixion. However they are by no means an exclusive list of what happened to Him, or indeed all that He suffered. The structure of the Stations is supposed to aid, not limit, our reflections on what Christ went through on our behalf.
While they are a traditional Catholic devotion, for those other Christians among my readers who are not familiar with the Stations of the Cross, there is certainly no reason why you cannot use them yourself, as a way to help you think about the timeline on Good Friday as you pray. The more we are able to reflect on what Jesus went through, beginning with this list and then expanding on it in our own private moments of contemplation, the more we are able to recognize what He went through: emotional suffering, physical torture, betrayal by people He loved, false accusations, public insult and humiliation, and so on. And the more we realize that it is by our sins that we put Him in those situations, then hopefully all the more we will repent of those sins, and amend our lives so as to carry our own burdens in life, in the way that He bore His Cross for all our sakes.
"Christ Carrying the Cross" by El Greco (c. 1580's)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


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Last week, I joined fellow PRSA Detroit members at Lawrence Tech University to listen to Tim McIntyre, vice president of communications for Dominos Pizza, present, "We sell pizza. What could go wrong." – a firsthand crisis case study of how the company handled the infamous YouTube incident of 2009.
The way the crisis was handled has been both praised and ridiculed by the public relations industry, and McIntyre was recently named Crisis Manager of the year by PR News.
Before McIntyre's presentation, my opinion was that in today's world of 24/7 news and social media, 48 hours to respond to this crisis was too long. After listening to him explain how those 48 hours worked, I still don't completely agree with how the crisis was handled, but have a better understanding. I do not believe they were slow to react, but rather that they underestimated the power of social media.
The first 24 hours
Within 45 minutes of the video being posted on YouTube, McIntyre was aware that it was there. The first 24 hours were spent attempting to identify where the store was, who the individuals were and contacting local authorities once they were identified.
Dominos also contacted YouTube to take the video down, in which they were told they needed permission from the person who put it on there. Even after permission, videos that are 90 seconds or less remain because YouTube only considers videos that are more than 90 seconds to infringe on copyright laws.
So why didn't Dominos immediately address the video publically? According to McIntyre, he said they were focused on the internal audience, and didn't' want to "put out a candle with a fire hose." At this time the video had 250K views (vs. the 307 million people that live in the U.S.) The company didn't want to bring it to more people's attention by issuing a press release or holding a press conference. Instead, they addressed Web sites like the Consumerist that posted the video to their blog.
The Next 24 hours
In the next 24 hours, Dominos launched social media tools including Twitter and a Facebook page (which the said was scheduled to be launched the following week). They also posted a public response to Dominos.com. When 250K views turned into 500K, they decided to respond to the crisis through the same medium it was created. They quickly put the president of Dominos on camera and put it on YouTube within one hour.
End result
While posting the response via YouTube was new to Dominos and the PR industry, would it have been more effective if it was done 24 hours earlier or if communication had been opened sooner via social media? Should Dominos already have had statements prepared to address the situation while other measures were being taken? If they were already active on Twitter, would they have been able to reach this audience directly and immediately?
McIntrye and Dominos handled the situation the best way they knew how. They took all the steps we are taught to take in dealing with a crisis. What other PR professionals can learn from this is that social media is a strong force. It is something that is becoming stronger than traditional media every day and should not be ignored or taken lightly. Companies need to be active in social media so they can address these types of issues immediately instead of catching up later.
— Deana Goodrich